Research News

Recent stories related to our researchers as published on latest news.

Dr Mervyn Shepherd with tea tree sapling

Research delivers the good oil for tea tree industry

Dr Mervyn Shepherd is bringing his experience and insight to ensuring Australia's tea tree industry stays ahead of rising global competition. Working with colleagues at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Dr Shepherd is nurturing the seeds of initiative and developing techniques that are already showing promise around oil quality, yield and breeding management – all of which augurs well for the future.

3 August 2022

Kangaroo crossing road Credit Shutterstock

Good news: highway underpasses for wildlife actually work

New research from Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation and Biology Ross Goldingay and colleagues explores whether highway underpasses help animals safely cross roads. The study investigates whether animals actually use underpasses – and if they had hidden dangers by funnelling animals through a confined space, making it easier for predators.

1 August 2022

Professor Bronwyn Barkla in Plant Science lab

Salt of the earth: tackling the salinity challenge

Working at the cellular level, Professor Bronwyn Barkla is building a bigger and clearer picture on how the secrets of the common ice plant may be applied to improve salt tolerance in plants, boost crop yields and tackle rising soil salinity.

21 July 2022

Renaud Joannes-Boyau with a Homo Naledi tooth

Tooth-telling brings to light earliest humans from southern Africa

Fossil tooth analysis by Southern Cross University geochemist Dr Renaud Joannes-Boyau has played a central role in an international collaboration that has properly identified the earliest humans.

14 July 2022

Understanding a plant’s salt tolerance mechanisms earns Chancellor’s Medal

Changes in membrane lipids in salt-tolerant plants has been identified as an important salinity tolerance mechanism by a Southern Cross University PhD researcher Dr Qi Guo. The discovery is good news for global agriculture and will inform future work by plant breeders to engineer salt-tolerant crops.

30 June 2022

African Australian social media credit Shutterstock

How young Black African Australians use social media to challenge anti-Black narratives and reclaim racial dignity

A new study from Dr Kathomi Gatwiri and colleagues illustrates how Black African young people in Australia are using social media to challenge anti-Black narratives and reclaim some of their racial dignity, yet the fear of racial trolling persists.

24 June 2022

Barred javelin Specimen #1 colouration and nose Credit Ben Mos

A fishy capture reveals a prized Queensland species moving south

Southern Cross marine biologist Dr Benjamin Mos captured a rare find during a fishing expedition on the NSW Mid North Coast. While well-known to fishers in Queensland, the barred javelin fish was found further south than ever recorded, spurring a scientific paper now published in Journal of Fish Biology.

23 June 2022

Skydiving Credit Kamil Pietrzak on Unsplash

Extreme sports can be good for you, if you take the challenge

From surfing big waves, jumping out of planes or free diving deep underwater, Southern Cross University psychologist Dr Eric Brymer investigates the motivations of extreme sportspeople to understand why they do what they do.

20 June 2022

Drought, megafires, and flood – citizen scientists reveal impact on river water quality

Researchers from Southern Cross University led a unique study in collaboration with a dedicated team of citizen scientists to help monitor the impact of drought, fire and flood on water quality in the Macleay River.

31 May 2022

International research partnership takes action on marine plastic

Southern Cross University is part of an international research partnership tackling marine plastic pollution. With an estimated 12.7 million tonnes of plastics entering our oceans every year, tropical marine ecotoxicology expert Professor Amanda Reichelt-Brushett is urging a coordinated response to the problem.

24 May 2022

Lismore floodwater enough to fill half of Sydney Harbour

Southern Cross University researcher Professor Bradley Eyre has been collecting flood data for more than thirty years. He explains that at the peak of the first flood in late February, the water coming down Wilsons and Leycester Creeks would have filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool in just over a second.

23 May 2022

Peter Harrison inspecting coral reef at North Point off Lizard Island

Building a shared future for all life by supporting biological diversity

From discovering a new frog species or learning more about shy tropical dolphins, to improving the production of food crops like hempseed and coffee, Southern Cross University researchers are working alongside nature to ensure longevity and viability of plant and animal species.

20 May 2022

Fossil tooth unlocks mystery of Denisovans in Asia

What links a finger bone and some fossil teeth found in the remote Altai Mountains of Siberia to a single tooth found in the limestone landscapes of tropical Laos? The answer has been established by an international team of researchers, including Southern Cross University.

18 May 2022

New mountainfrog species identified in rainforests of northern NSW and southeast Queensland

Researchers from Southern Cross University have helped uncover a new species of mountainfrog; Philoria knowlesi, in the rainforests of the NSW-QLD border, and are now working to protect its habitat.

3 May 2022

Researcher Spotlight: Dr Andrea Bugarcic on Parkinson’s and naturopathic medicine

As Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator at the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM), Dr Andrea Bugarcic has a strong commitment to building positive outcomes for the naturopathic profession by furthering education and research opportunities for students, as well as contributing her own meaningful research outcomes.

27 April 2022

PhD candidate Colleen Rodd on the Great Barrier Reef

PhD chat with Colleen Rodd on the Great Barrier Reef

A passion for protecting and restoring the Great Barrier Reef is the driving force behind Colleen Rodd’s PhD project. She’s part of the research team led by Distinguished Professor Peter Harrison, who is fighting to protect the Reef one coral larvae at a time.

22 April 2022

No oxygen and no fish – Southern Cross scientists investigate deoxygenation and fish kills in the wake of disastrous floods

Southern Cross University scientists investigate the severe deoxygenation of the Richmond River system after the floods, explaining why fish kills are just the 'the tip of the ecological iceberg'.

31 March 2022

Southern Cross to deliver low-cost soil testing under $54.4m government program

Southern Cross University has been engaged by the Australian Government in a $54.4 million program to support farmers and land managers with soil testing.

16 March 2022

Elderly woman sitting on bed looking out window

New research from Southern Cross University investigates the realities of ageing in place in Australia

Many older Australians are determined to remain in their own home for as long as they possibly can. PhD candidate Katie Rosie investigates 'ageing in place'.

23 February 2022

Southern Cross Uni geochemist’s ARC funding to unlock secrets of earliest human evolution

Southern Cross University Associate Professor Renaud Joannes-Boyau will track back in time using pre-historic teeth to observe how our earliest human ancestors co-existed alongside two other ‘pre-human species’.

21 February 2022

Innovation trial: using silicon fertilisers to improve tolerance of Lady Finger bananas to Panama disease

Southern Cross University's Centre for Organics Research is part of an innovation trial to increase the tolerance of Lady Finger bananas to the devastating Panama disease.

1 February 2022

Southern Cross University awarded almost $2 million for innovative research

Southern Cross University has welcomed more than $1.94 million in Australian Research Council (ARC) funding in the latest rounds, achieving a sector-leading success rate in the Discovery round.

11 January 2022

Spawn of a new era as Reef's first Coral IVF babies reach maturity

The first Coral IVF babies on the Great Barrier Reef have produced the next generation as part of this year’s mass coral spawning event, becoming the Reef's first breeding population using the innovative process pioneered by a Southern Cross University coral specialist.

13 December 2021

Plate corals releasing egg and sperm bundles during spawning

Sea-lebrating 40th anniversary of mass coral spawning discovery

Of the millions of new scientific research papers published every year, some discoveries are simply awe-inspiring. Like the first observation, in 1981, of one of the world’s greatest natural spectacles: how the Great Barrier Reef’s corals create new life.

3 December 2021

A large ship with floating pools on the ocean

Grown in floating ocean pools, baby corals set free on damaged reefs

Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef’s far north has received its first delivery of millions of Coral IVF babies to help accelerate the recovery of damaged areas of reef.

3 December 2021

Riding the Waves of Change: supporting school students to adapt to impacts of COVID-19

With the impacts of Covid-19 being felt globally, researchers are now gaining a clearer picture of its ongoing impact on the mental health of children and young people.

2 December 2021

Sea cucumber manual a global success story for Southern Cross Uni researcher

A Southern Cross University manual for postharvest processing of small-scale fishery products is now available in eight languages.

1 December 2021

A man and woman check stick traps for macadamia lace bug

New research brings hope for macadamia grower

Article by Southern Cross University Centre for Organics Research.

2018 was a tough year on the Brook family farm. More than 90% of the macadamia crop was lost to a native pest, the macadamia lace bug. "We were organic for five years and the lace bug nearly wiped us out," said Martin Brook, co-founder of Brookfarm – Australia’s leading gourmet muesli brand and manager of a 4,500-tree Macadamia farm.

29 November 2021

A woman sitting on a lounge with a laptop and coffee

1 in 6 women have lost their jobs due to managing endometriosis

Researchers from Southern Cross University’s National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine and Western Sydney University’s NICM Health Research Institute have conducted a national survey of 389 women* with a confirmed diagnosis of endometriosis, finding that with one in three (31%) reported being passed over for promotion and one in six (15%) reported being fired, due to having to manage endometriosis symptoms.

26 November 2021

A man and woman working at night on a boat collecting spawn

Great Barrier Reef’s baby boom holds the key to its protection

The Great Barrier Reef is booming with new life after the world’s biggest reproductive event – coral spawning – delivered Southern Cross University's Distinguished Professor Peter Harrison a narrow window to help secure its future.

25 November 2021

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Judith Rosentreter investigating carbon dioxide and methane emissions from mangrove-dominated estuaries and tidal creeks in Australia

Southern Cross blue carbon research contributes to global climate change debate

Research from Southern Cross University’s coastal biogeochemistry experts is contributing to scientific debate around the climate benefits of blue carbon and the development of carbon and methane budgets.

1 November 2021

Healthy bodies, healthy environment: benefits of using organic food in traditional Mediterranean diet

A new international study has found that adopting a healthy Mediterranean diet significantly increased pesticide intake, while changing to organic food consumption led to a substantial decrease.

1 November 2021

Specimens held at the University’s Medicinal Plant Herbarium

Over 3000 species of medicinal plants housed at Southern Cross University

Human societies have used herbal medicine throughout history. Yet many don’t realise that even today, a large number of pharmaceutical drugs are derived from medicinal plants.

25 October 2021

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